Benipe

Benipe (79 BC-) was an Egyptian blacksmith who owned a shop in Siwa during the 1st century BC.

Biography
Benipe was born in Siwa, Ptolemaic Egypt, and he became a blacksmith and the owner of his own shop. Benipe befriended the medjay Bayek, and he was known to be a dissident who opposed Pharaoh Ptolemy XIII. In 48 BC, the garrison of the new military camp near town, Camp Shetjeh, began to enforce Ptolemy's rule through arbitrary arrests and executions. The camp's captain Rekh-khet-sa Shu confronted Benipe about forging swords, accusing him of supplying rebels with weapons; he confiscated his tools, depriving him of his livelihood. One day, Bayek returned to the town and headed to the camp, where he assassinated the captain and his men and looted the camp's chest. He then visited Benipe to gain support against Medunamun, the oracle whom Ptolemy had given command of the town, and Benipe asked him for help with retrieving his tools. Bayek then realized that he had accidentally completed Benipe's task already, and he delivered Benipe's tools to him. Benipe rewarded him by allowing him to choose one of his wares to take for free, and Bayek chose a spear.